Monday, November 9, 2015

We had the privilege of reviewing some really cute picture books that I had never heard of before. What about you, have you ever heard of Ladybug Girl by husband and wife team David Soman and Jacky Davis? These books are so cute and each one of them subtly teaches a little lesson. We were blessed with the entire set of books.

As you can see, there are 8 books in this series. One book was released each year since 2008. Additionally, there is a collection of board books (which we did not receive). This year is special because they just released the Super Fun Edition of the first Ladybug Girl book on October 20th.

Ladybug Girl's real name is Lulu. She loves to use her imagination to become the superhero Ladybug Girl who goes about saving the day. It all began in the first book, Ladybug Girl, on a day when she was bored because her older brother wouldn't let her play with him because she was too little, and her parents were busy. As is typical with children, she couldn't find anything to do, even though her room was filled with toys. She ventured outside with her dog Bingo, and they came upon a line of ants crawling over a rock. She figured that they needed help getting past the rock, so Ladybug Girl lifted the rock out of their way. Ladybug Girl and Bingo spent the morning using their imaginations. They crossed the huge shark-infested pond (puddle), fixed a wall which became a fort, and skipped across a fallen down tree with huge snakes for roots. They continued playing, and when she was called inside by her mother, she doesn't feel little anymore, she feels "as big as the whole outdoors."

This entire series of books features Ladybug Girl and Bingo going on awesome adventures in different places. Not only does she have other adventures in her own backyard, but she goes to the playground and the beach, and she goes camping with her family. Ladybug Girl and Bingo aren't always alone either. In some of the books her adventures include her friends, The Bug Squad.

We love these books so much. In fact, as soon as we received them, Tabitha had gotten into the box and zinged through all of them before I even realized it. I read them to the rest of the children a bit more slowly. As I mentioned, all of the books have little lessons that they focus on:

Imagination and Empowerment

Friendship and Compromise

Responsibility

Looking on the Bright Side

Being True to Yourself

The Value of Friendship

Empathy

Being Brave

When I was contacted about doing this review, I was told I could give away not only a copy of the special Super Fun Edition Ladybug Girl book, but two others as well. I have to tell you, it has been a hard task to choose two additional books to share with you in more detail. The children couldn't help me narrow it down, because they all had their favorites. All of these books are awesome, and I hope you will find the time to read all of them to your child(ren). But, a decision had to be made, so I sat down and read through all the books once again and chose the following books to tell you about in more detail.

Ladybug Girl and Bumblebee Boy is a story about friendship and compromise. Lulu and her mom head to the playground with Bingo. Even the walk to the playground is full of adventure for Ladybug Girl. When they arrive at the playground, Lulu finds a friend from school and asks him if he wants to play. However, things aren't going well because Lulu and Sam want to play different things. Suddenly she remembers the fun Ladybug Girl was having on the way to the playground and she asks Sam if he wants to play Ladybug Girl with her. Of course the idea of having superpowers entices him, and he becomes Bumblebee Boy complete with a stinger with which he can protect himself and others (it is really a stick). They are later joined by two other friends who become Dragonfly Girl and Butterfly Girl, completing the Bug Squad. They are to work together to fight the bad guys, but never each other.

Ladybug Girl and Bingo is a story about responsibility. In this story Lulu is going camping with her family. She is excited and can't wait to sleep outdoors. Bingo is excited too and starts to zing off. Lulu's dad puts Bingo's leash on him and reminds Lulu to hold on to it so Bingo doesn't get lost. Of course, Ladybug Girl would never let that happen, or so she thought. What she doesn't realize is, Bingo has discovered the scent of a fox and he is constantly trying to go off and find it. They go off exploring and have fun adventures with a wizard, a giant turtle and a secret garden complete with fairies. She almost loses Bingo when the leash slips through her fingers on the way to the lake. And then while exploring he does end up getting loose. She dashes off in search of him and when she finds him, she makes sure to hold on to his leash "extra-tight."

The Ladybug Girl Super Fun Gift Edition would be a great addition to a child's library. The dust jacket isn't any ordinary dust jacket. It opens up to become a huge poster.

And in the back of the book you will find punch-out paper dolls of Ladybug Girl and Bingo along with reusable stickers to help them dress up for fun adventures.

There are two pages of reusable stickers.

The children had a blast with these paper dolls. For some strange and odd reason, they all wanted to turn them into "aliens." I was able to convince them to make some decent outfits as well.

The paper figures are made out thick paper that is more sturdy than card stock. They have a glossy coating to make removal of the stickers a cinch. A word of caution however, these reusable stickers are just that, stickers and they do tend to tear. It isn't a matter of being too rough with them either, as I had one of the dresses rip on me as I was removing it from the doll. You have to make sure to pull them gently in the correct direction. The little headbands and accessories are very thin, so they require extra care in removing them from the book. I would definitely recommend the stickers be used under supervision, especially with younger children. I also found that they do not adhere to the storage pages in the book very well once they have been used.

My children absolutely LOVE Ladybug Girl and promptly became members of their very own Bug Squad. They have a base under the two trees in our back yard and were out there fighting enemies. It seems our burning barrel was a bomb.

Ladybug Girl is such a sweet "superhero" for children to emulate. She finds adventure in the normal day-to-day places and activities of her life. She desires to help those in need, even those lowly little ants. She is seen doing such things as helping neighbors and stopping a dispute among friends. She learns to think of others and the importance of saying "I'm sorry." To some, these books may seem simple. However, I have found that the authors have done a wonderful job telling stories of a little girl and her friends in a way that children will understand. They understand a child's world and imagination. This is definitely a set of books I can highly recommend.

Now for some great news. I have been given the opportunity to offer a giveaway for 1 lucky person to win a set of the 3 books highlighted above (Ladybug Girl: The Super Fun Edition, Ladybug Girl and Bumblebee Boy, and Ladybug Girl and Bingo).

All you need to do is enter in the Rafflecopter form below.

There are only 2 simple mandatory entries, with the remainder of the entries being optional.

Remember, you do not have to do the extra entries, but they will increase your odds of winning.

This giveaway is open to US residents 18 and over.

The giveaway runs November 9 through November 22nd 2015.Thanks for stopping by, and good luck!

By entering the giveaway, you understand and agree that your contact information will be shared with the sponsor.

Disclosure: I received the full set of Ladybug Girl hardcover books in exchange for my honest review. No further compensation was given. This did not in any way influence my review. I only recommend products I use personally and feel will be a good products for my readers.

Welcome to Tots and Me... Growing Up Together, where I share homeschool activities, crafts, recipes, and tips, both of my own creation and those I have found around the web. I also love to share reviews and the occasional giveaway.

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About Me

I am a stay at home mom. I have always wanted to teach, started college with a major in Early Education, but ended up staying home with my son (which turned into staying home with my 2 sons and daughter). Years later ended up with an Associates Degree in Human Services. Which helped me get a director's position at the Montessori I was working at. I am now staying home with my 3 young children. While my older children are off in public school we are homeschooling. I am doing what I always dreamed of doing, teaching!! I feel this is where God has led and willed me to be. I will be here to "Train up [my children] in the way [they] should go: [so] when [they are] old, [they] will not depart from it." Proverbs 22:6